Friday, December 31, 2010

Writing in The Nation magazine on May 2, 1966, sociologists Richard Cloward and his wife Frances Fox Piven published what was to become in later years one of the most famous and influential of leftist articles. Titled “The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty,” the two socialist intellectuals developed a new so-called “crisis strategy” — that of trying to use the existing welfare system to create chaos that would weaken the corporate capitalist state and eventually foment revolution. “Discover the Networks” has a good summary of their thesis.

The two became the ideologists of a group formed to implement their strategy, called “The National Welfare Rights Organization,” or NWRO. As Stanley Kurtz explains in Radical-in-Chief: “the idea was to flood state and local welfare systems with more applicants than they could possibly afford to carry. Cloward and Piven believed that this ‘break the bank’ strategy would force President [Lyndon B.] Johnson and a liberal Democratic Congress to bail out overburdened state welfare systems with a federally guaranteed annual income.” This experience of activism by the poor would create a new anti-capitalist sentiment, and would stoke the poors’ “sense of entitlement and rage.” Later, the group’s mission would be carried on by ACORN, whose leaders endorsed and built upon Cloward and Piven’s strategy.Read more . . .

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

And so it begins, and on the most fertile red-state territory in the nation. Texas, which got four more seats in the House through the 2010 Census reapportionment, has had its air-quality rules superceded by the EPA as part of its aggressive new action on carbon emissions. Governor Rick Perry promises a fight:Read more . . .

Only a few days remain until 2011, and still there is no end to Islamic hatred in the world.

Christmas was celebrated in an unusual way in Indonesia this year. Since sharia forbids the construction of any new churches, hundreds of members of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Parung, West Java, Indonesia decided to celebrate Mass "in a tent set up in the parking lot of the Marsudirini Elementary School." Although on paper, Indonesia's constitution states that "no one has the right to prohibit any religious community from practicing its faith" the rising influence of Islamic radicals is obliterating all this.

In Pakistan in July of 2010, "a dozen masked men shot five Christians to death as they came out of their church." In May, "church leaders had received a threatening letter from the Islamic extremist group Sip-e-Sahaba warning the Christians to leave the area as 'they [were] polluting [the] land.'"

In the Washington Times, Jeffrey Kuhner writes about ongoing anti-Christian pogroms in the Middle East. A word usually ascribed to the mass destruction of Jews, it is now being applied here, as "Christians have endured bombings, murders, assassinations, torture, imprisonment and expulsions. These anti-Christian pogroms culminated recently with the brutal attack on Our Lady of Salvation, an Assyrian Catholic church in Baghdad. Al Qaeda gunmen stormed the church during Mass, slaughtering 51 worshippers and two priests. Father Wassim Sabih begged the jihadists to spare the lives of his parishioners. They executed him and then launched their campaign of mass murder."

Editorial note: As I searched the internet for an image to add to this article, I was sickened. If readers really want to know what it's like to be a minority Christian in areas of the world largely run by Islamo-fascists, then do a Google image search. Simple keywords like "muslim kill christian" will reveal such horrific pictures that it's barely possible to look at them without vomiting, so viewer beware.

So, this begs the question, will this near-tragedy force journalists around the world and especially in the US to give up their politically correct views about Islam, or will they just shut up and take cover?

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said three of the four men were residents of Sweden and had entered the country during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. The fifth suspect was a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin living in Stockholm.

Jakob Scharf, the head of PET, said the arrests in Denmark were made after close cooperation with Swedish police.

"An imminent terror attack has been foiled," Scharf said, describing some the suspects as "militant Islamists." He said that more arrests could not be ruled out.

Scharf said they considered the attack had been thwarted and that "there was no need to raise the terror threat alert level" in Denmark.

PET said the group had been planning to enter the building where the Jyllands-Posten daily has its Copenhagen newsdesk and had wanted "to kill as many of the people present as possible."Read more . . .

The world has been artificially divided into "Birthers" and "anti-Birthers" when in fact I suspect a large percentage or even majority of the population is neither and simply wants all the evidence released so that we can move beyond the issue. For most people, who have had to show their own birth certificates at various points in their lives, the notion that a presidential candidate should release his or her birth certificate to prove qualification for office reflects neither pro- nor anti-Obama sentiment, but a "what's the big deal?" attitude.

It also seems that the supposed intellectual poles have been reversed.

People who supposedly are irrational and driven by hatred demand to see the evidence. People who supposedly are rational and driven by dispassionate intellect demand that the evidence not be seen.

Isn't this the exact opposite of what should take place? Or have the labels been misapplied?Read more . . .

Rare earths are used in a great number of technological applications from batteries, to electronics, to national defense. Sadly, America's rare earth mines went dormant many years ago as we became more dependent on Chinese exports. Now China's exports to us are going to be cut back. Crunch time for America begins!

Similar news was posted here last August. As a result, it occurred to me that now would be the ideal time to support an American company as it sought funds through an initial offering to reopen it's mining facility. Thus, I invested in Molycorp, Inc. (MCP) stock. At that time the shares cost me $18 each. Four months later MCP shares are selling at $46.18. While it's great to make a profit on an investment, I feel good helping an American company reopen its doors so that one day we won't be so dependent on China.

With this latest news item about China cutting exports to the US, MCP shares will probably continue to climb. As I understand it, Molycorp is in the process of upgrading old machinery and hasn't yet begun operations.

Today we're threatened by China restricting rare earths. How long before we're truly threatened by third-world dictatorships restricting oil exports, especially since Obama wants to protectpunish America and save the polar bears (who are NOT endangered)? Stupid and dangerous, in my view.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

When discussing the Islamization of the West, France is usually cited as being the worst-off of the Western democracies. It has an estimated Muslim population of 10%, perhaps as high as 15%, and the demographics of the situation — a very low birthrate among the native French, and a baby boom among the Muslim immigrants — do not bode well for the future of France.

If we expand the definition of “the West” a bit, it becomes necessary to add India and Russia to the list of Most Islamized Western Nations. India has the largest, oldest, and most intractable “Islam problem” of any Western democracy. The Muslim minority in India is over 150 million (13+% of the population) and is growing relative to the Hindu population. India lives under the constant threat of terror attack. Its citizens experience deadly bombings and other forms of violent jihad with mind-numbing regularity.Read more . . .

Frank Gaffney discusses Feisel Abdul Rauf and the Ground Zero Mosque in the context of Shariah: the threat America, which he describes as a stealthy, or civilization jihad -- more political than religious.

HONOLULU — President Obama’s trip to church Sunday followed a steady rebirth over the past three months in public expressions of his Christianity.

Obama has publicly mentioned his “Christian faith” more times in the past three months than he has over the past year. He has more frequently cited passages of the Bible, including repeated references to the spirit of Genesis 4:9 — “I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper” — which was a mainstay of Obama’s 2010 campaign stump speech. And he’s taken his family to church twice, a shift for a president who has preferred to worship privately since the end of the 2008 campaign. Read more . . .

Granted, the 12/19/10 edition of the Teri O’Brien Show was unusual. We had not one, but two, special guests, and we usually have none. Still, I was unprepared for the firestorm precipitated by the routine posting I hoped would entice listeners to check out the show, a firestorm that shows no end of dying down. It all started with the mention of the phrase “natural born citizen” and whether it can be accurately applied to Barack Obama.

I invited Floyd Brown, President of the Western Journalism Center, on the show to address the question “Why didn’t Justices Kagan and Sotomayor recuse themselves from the recent decision to deny certiorari in the case Kerchner v. Obama (the natural born citizen case)?” After all, one of the named parties appointed them, which appears to me to be an obvious conflict of interest. In my opinion, their failure to sit out on this one is the most unreported significant story of 2010. A question for two of the passionate participants in the debate here on IR: Ohioborn1, Bob Ross--would you like to take a crack at answering that one? Bueller? Bueller?

The nearly immediate posting of an affirmative response to the question I mentioned in the post about the 12/19/10 show, “Just exactly what is a “natural born citizen” under our Constitution, and does Obama qualify?” got me thinking. I know why many Obama opponents are passionate about this issue, but why would the other side be so quick to reply? Let me submit that as interesting as the extremely verbose debate here has become, it’s somewhat collateral to the actual issue.The actual issue, at least for Obama’s permanent campaign, is make sure the question is never asked.

Gee whiz. What "religion" do you think these terrorists subscribe to? Maybe they are right-wing Christians, or perhaps Buddhists, or even possibly Scientologists? Wait a minute. I think there's a pattern to this madness. Here's the answer:

One of the problems with the idea of "American exceptionalism" is that it exacerbates a kind of complacency common to man. This is the phenomenon whereby people often view themselves as exceptions -- saying, after some tragedy, for instance, something such as "I never thought it could happen to me."

On a national level -- and this especially plagues great nations -- this manifests itself in the notion that "it" could never happen here. Oh, the "it" could be descent into tyranny, domination by a foreign power, or dissolution. Or maybe it could be the election of a leader who is a Manchurian candidate, a traitor within, someone bent on destroying the nation that gave him everything. That..."it"...couldn't happen here. In fact, the idea is so preposterous to many Americans that if such a threat loomed, they would never see it coming. And they would call a person who warned of it a nut.

Dr. Kengor of Grove City College (PA) reveals documented proof obtained from Commiturn archives in the Library of Congress that the Communist Party USA, which opened it's doors in Chicago, was indeed networking with the Soviets. Furthermore, Kengor discovered from declassified FBI records that Obama's family friend and mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a card-carrying communist. He even cites Davis' membership card number. Progressives will be pleased to note that Kengor has some good words to say about Woodrow Wilson's battle against communists (even though Wilson was a racist.)
Video embedded here. Hat tip again to CK.

Prompted by the recent "birther" activities of Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii's new governor, Chris Matthews and his guests yuck it up over Americans' who question Obama's birth status, but for the first time he actually shows the MSNBC audience that a long-form birth certificate is different and more informative than a Certification of Live Birth. Then, Matthews also asks why this document hasn't been released.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Obot SMRSTRAUSS' Links Are Being Scrubbed From Google
By EricaThunderpaws

Recently I visited the website of attorney Mario Apuzzo, legal council for Charles Kerchner, and noticed that SMRSTRAUSS had posted a comment to an article. Apparently, this Obot couldn't resist plying his trade once again, but Apuzzo's readers are at least aware of who he is and resoundingly rejected his remarks.

During the presidential election, and for a very long time afterwards, SMRSTRAUSS did a lot of damage on behalf of Obama. He, his wife, and probably a host of others using the same name, infiltrated every site that discussed Obama's eligibility issue. This crew left a trail of disinformation everywhere they posted. Their mission: to ridicule all who doubted Obama's eligibility to serve as president, and to confuse the public by misstating the facts.

If you missed the exploits of SMRSTRAUSS, read my exposé published in March 2010 for the full story, backed up with hard evidence. On the date that article was published, a search on Google for this Obot's name registered nearly 20,000 hits, which was very impressive activity by a "single" individual!

One would assume that over time the trajectory of hits for SMRSTRAUSS would climb if he/they continued to post comments, or perhaps level off if they stopped, but exactly the opposite has happened! The trajectory of Google hits for this name has dropped dramatically downward. Information doesn't just disappear from the internet unless someone physically removes the links. SMRSTRAUSS must have friends in high places! But of course, that is the argument I made in the article.

Evidence for the change in Google hits is displayed below. Prior to publishing my exposé on SMRSTRAUSS' activity, I made screen captures of the Google results page on a couple of occasions. On January 29, 2010, Google returned 17,500 links. A short time later on February 8, 2010, Google had increased the returns to 18,900 links. Today, there are only 4,640 links!

Perhaps SMRSTRAUSS and friends are trying to clean up the Internet before the 2012 presidential election cycle begins, because the link between SMRSTRAUSS and Obama's disinformation campaign might prove useful to Obama's opponents if their dirty tricks are exposed.

For someone who once described himself as "some kind of god" and said that makes him feel comfortable, the scrutiny of a new report that looks into his increasing influence over the messengers in today's world probably won't have a personal impact.

But whether it affects him or not, octogenarian billionaire George Soros' funding of a media "monitor" that routinely attacks traditional and conservative media is becoming a focal point.View pdf report and read more . . .

The New York Times on April 21, 2010, did a story entitled, Obama and the ‘Birthers’ in the Latest Poll, by Dalia Sussman and Marina Stefan. The article reported that "[i]n a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 58 percent said Mr. Obama was born in the United States. That leaves a significant minority who said they thought he was born in another country (20 percent) or said they did not know (23 percent)." Question No. 50 in the poll was: "According to the Constitution, American Presidents must be 'natural born citizens.' Some people say Barack Obama was NOT born in the United States, but was born in another country. Do YOU think Barack Obama was born in the United States, or was he born in another country?" The result was: Born in US 58%, Another country 20%, Don't Know 23%. Hence, these numbers show that 43 percent do not believe that Obama was born in the United States. What a serious national security situation we are living in when the de facto President and Commander of our vast military power has not convincingly proven with certainty to almost half the people of this nation that he was truly born in the United States. The New York Times article, as usual from this pro-Obama paper, is written in such a way as to give the reader the impression that Obama has convincingly proven that he was born in Hawaii and that those who do not believe that Obama was born there are misinformed and poorly educated. What the authors of the article fail to realize or refuse to report is that concerned Americans have very good reasons to doubt that Obama was born in Hawaii.Read more . . .

DENVER -- The Obama administration plans to reverse a Bush-era policy and make millions of undeveloped acres, including some in Alaska, again eligible for federal wilderness protection, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.

The agency will replace the 2003 policy adopted under then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton. That policy — derided by some as the “No More Wilderness” policy — stated that new areas could not be recommended for wilderness protection by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and it opened millions of acres to potential commercial development.

That policy “frankly never should have happened and was wrong in the first place,” Salazar said Thursday.

Environmental activists have been pushing for the Obama administration to restore protections for potential wilderness areas.

If you demand to see Obama's actual birth certificate, you will be called a "Birther."

It doesn't matter if your position is that anyone ascending to a constitutional office should provide the best evidence of constitutional qualification, you're a Birther. It doesn't matter that you think all candidates should comply, you're a Birther. It doesn't matter it you think Obama was born in Hawaii, but should put the issue to rest by releasing the records, you're a Birther.

The new Governor of Hawaii is getting accolades because he finally is going to shut up all the Birthers.

The founder of the The Weather Channel in the US has described the concept of global warming as 'the greatest scam in history' and accused global media of colluding with 'environmental extremists' to alarm the public.

"It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM," John Coleman wrote in an article published on ICECAP, the International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project, which is known for challenging widely published theories on global warming.Read more . . .

Stymied in Congress, the Obama administration is moving unilaterally to clamp down on power plant and oil refinery greenhouse emissions, announcing plans for developing new standards over the next year.

In a statement posted on the agency's website late Thursday, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson said the aim was to better cope with pollution contributing to climbate change.Read more . . .

The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that - the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading of the country's founding document on the floor of the House on Jan. 6.

The goal, backers said, is to underscore the limited-government rules the Founders imposed on Congress - and to try to bring some of those principles back into everyday legislating.Read more . . .

Friday, December 24, 2010

A bipartisan group of six Congressional lawmakers asked Wednesday the Government Accountability Office to reexamine its report on the for-profit education industry. The agency sent undercover applicants to some of these schools. The undercover investigators claim to have been misled on costs, job placement and future earnings.

In a letter to GAO comptroller Gene Dodaro, California Rep. Darrell Issa lectured the congressional watchdog on its charge to provide objective, factual and nonideological reports. In this instance, the incoming chairman of the House oversight committee said, “GAO has not met its own high standards.”

After releasing in August a sensational report on the alleged abuses within the career college community, GAO acknowledged earlier this month it had heavily revised portions of its findings, changing wrongfully attributed comments and lessening its charges of deception.

Issa wants to know if the GAO has investigated the failings in its initial report and if its office of general counsel had concluded the revised report accurately reflects the analysis contained therein.

Tea and Baloney EditorialInvestor's Business DailyDecember 23, 2010Trade: As the economy sputters, the White House has come up with a doozy of an excuse for its failure to put the U.S.-Colombia free-trade pact to a vote in Congress: The Tea Party won't let them. This is getting ridiculous.

The economy, the peril south of our border and our valuable alliance with Colombia all point to real urgency for Congress to pass the U.S.-Colombia free-trade agreement, which would create jobs and add billions each year to our GDP.

Protectionist Democrats have held it up for years, falsely claiming that Colombia's human rights record merited its rejection.

Now that a trade-friendly GOP Congress is coming in, the White House is shifting blame to the Tea Party.Read more . . .

Regulatory State: Two days after the FCC voted to take over the Internet, it stands in the way of an agreement between private companies. This is an agency that should be targeted for elimination. On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission approved net neutrality, a regulatory framework that has been sold as a means of keeping the Web fair and open. In truth, the rules give government the authority to tell internet service providers how to organize the traffic that flows over their infrastructure.

That's enough meddling in private affairs for one week for any federal agency. But the FCC wasn't finished.Read more . . .

Around a third of young British Muslims favour killing in the name of Islam, according to a survey revealed by the WikiLeaks' publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.

A survey of 600 Muslim students at 30 universities throughout Britain found that 32 per cent of Muslim respondents believed killing in the name of religion is justified.
A U.S. diplomatic cable from January 2009 quoted a poll by the Centre for Social Cohesion as saying 54 per cent wanted a Muslim party to represent their world view in Parliament and 40 per cent want Muslims in the UK to be under Sharia law. Read more . . .

After initially appearing to retreat in the face of the midterm onslaught, Barack Obama and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson have decided to pursue an end-run strategy to impose regulation on energy producers regarding greenhouse-gas emissions. The move sets up a confrontation between the White House and Congress, which has already signaled a willingness to play hardball with Obama on regulatory innovation:

You can sort the written and spoken words about Islam into two categories -- negative and apologist. Closer observation shows that the negative camp and the apologist camp use different logic, as well as come to different conclusions.

An easy way to see this is to go to a reporting source on the web such as a newspaper that has an article about Islam. Read the comments. The negative comments tend to be more based on ideas taken from the Islamic source material from the Koran and Mohammed. Or they quote a jihadi, a poll or a historical fact.

The apologist comments tend to quote a Muslim friend or establishment expert and attack those who criticize Islam. Critics are called bigots, neo-Nazis, Islamophobes or some other cruel name. In essence, having negative comments or judgments about Islam is labeled as evil. The term hate speech is even bantered about. The critic of Islam is a filed sinner who is shamed and morally condemned. It is all very personal and very much about feelings.Read more . . .

What comes to mind when you think of "the worst"? President James Buchanan. The 1962 Mets. Vanilla Ice. Now add to that list the 111th Congress, which is finally slated to wrap up business this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just didn't want to give up that gavel. This may have been the worst Congress since Lyndon Johnson's landslide ushered in the Congress that gave us the Great Society and the Vietnam War. Memo to voters: Democratic landslides are usually followed by disastrous results.

The 111th Congress got off to a fast start. Barely two weeks into the Obama era, it enacted an $800 billion stimulus bill, the largest in American history. Why take any time to study the contents when you know exactly what to do? The problem was that most of the money went to states to preserve the jobs of government workers. Some stimulus. The president said it would keep unemployment at 8 percent. It is now near 10 percent.

Defeated and retiring lawmakers appear to be earning their paychecks, and then some in the final sessions of the lame-duck Congress. They're hammering out major last-minute bills on tax cuts, the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and other key issues. But law professor John Copeland Nagle of the University of Notre Dame tells Linda Wertheimer that's not how the Constitution's framers wanted it to be.Read more . . .

"One of the country's favorite sayings is 'women are for children, boys are for pleasure," the report noted.

A document released by WikiLeaks described efforts by high-ranking Afghan officials to quash reports of police officers and other Afghans arrested for "purchasing a service from a child."

The leaked diplomatic cable quoted former Minister of the Interior Hanif Atmar's concern that publicity about the arrests, which involved the hiring of "dancing boys," would "endanger lives."

The author of the diplomatic cable fretted that the case would be "blown out of proportion, an outcome that would not be good for either the U.S. or Afghanistan."

The vast gulf between U.S. and Afghan attitudes about homosexuality and pedophilia has generated concern among U.S. advisers in Afghanistan since the American presence there began to expand.Read more . . .

Earlier today, some Hill staffers attended the first of four staggered meetings on how to write a new clause into legislation that explains why, exactly, the legislation is constitutional. This was a big Tea Party demand that Republicans ran on, and they're not welching.

Here's the memo that announced the meetings. I've redacted one part that tells staff the exact time and place of the meetings.Read more . . .

Bill Whittle returns for a final firewall episode, this time on the meaning of Christmas in American history -- or really, the meaning and resonance of Christianity. Bill quotes John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the requirement for a free people to be of high moral character, something they considered implicit in the Americans who fought for the freedom of self-governance. That didn't require a theocratic institution for government, but instead a government that interfered little with their choices and room for the natural character of people to assert itself. They did not view American s as children who could not be trusted with choice, but adults who by and large would act on their inherent, God-gifted goodness for prosperity and liberty:Read more (and to view the video) . . .

Telling a street preacher that it is against the law to affirm the Bible's teaching on homosexuality is costing a team of British police officers some $11,000 -- plus legal fees.

That was the resolution announced by The Christian Institute in a case that it fought on behalf of a street preacher, Dale Mcalpine, who was arrested and detained for nearly eight hours on the basis of the officers' decision that the Bible's teachings violated the law.

Mike Judge, spokesman for the institute, which fights on behalf of Christian and human rights in the United Kingdom, said perhaps the officers should remember the situation developed in Cumbria, not North Korea.Read more . . .

German Islamists predicted hellish torment for the German Chancellor if she does not accept Islam. Is Angela Merkel threatened only by Muslim hell or is she a candidate to hell from a Christian perspective as well? And what is hell? Hieromonk Nikanor (Lepeshev), a teacher of the Khabarovsk Theological Seminary, talked about it with Pravda.ru.

If you die without accepting Islam, you will go to hell forever and will be there to suffer torments worse than you can imagine, says a video message of a radical Muslim association, The Invitation to Paradise to Angela Merkel and the heads of security agencies in Germany, quoted by Blagovest-info with a reference to Spiegel magazine.

The members of the Islamist group believe that Islam is not just the only way to ensure that the soul gets a prosperous fate after death, but the only proper form of government. Employees of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (the German intelligence services engaged in surveillance of extremist groups in Germany) consider that the leader of The Invitation to Paradise Pierre Vogel promotes the idea of jihad through his radical sermons. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere does not rule out that in the future the activities of the association The Invitation to Paradise may be outlawed.

This young lady will probably become yet another victim of 'honor killings'. It is relevant that Americans understand the medieval customs inherent in Sharia law because honor killings are already occurring in the States. This barbaric practice must be vehemently condemned, and the women protected at all cost.

A young Muslim actress who appeared in the Harry Potter films was beaten by her brother and told by her father that he would kill her after she began a relationship with a Hindu man, a court heard yesterday.

Afshan Azad, 22, who played Padma Patil, a classmate of the boy wizard, was called a "slag" and a "prostitute" in a violent confrontation at her family home which left her so scared she fled through a window, Manchester Crown Court heard.

She later told police that her father wanted to "force her" into an arranged marriage.

Abul Azad, 53, and his son Ashraf, 28, were charged with making threats to kill following the incident in Longsight, Manchester, on May 21. Both were cleared of the charge yesterday after a judge heard that Miss Azad had refused to give evidence despite "expensive and time-consuming" attempts to encourage her to attend court. After going to police, she "made it plain" that she did not want any action taken against her family, saying that the arrest of her father or brother would put her in "genuine danger", the court heard.Read more . . .

On a quick break between classes last week, Reef Al-Shabnan slipped into an empty room at Catholic University to start her daily prayers to Allah.

In one corner was a life-size painting of Jesus carrying the cross. In another, the portrait of a late priest and theologian looked on. And high above the room hung a small wooden crucifix.

This was not, Shabnan acknowledge, the ideal space for a Muslim to pray in. After her more than two years on campus, though, it has become routine and sacred in its own way. You can find Allah anywhere, the 19-year-old from Saudi Arabia said, even at the flagship university of the U.S. Catholic world.

In the past few years, enrollment of Muslim students such as Shabnan has spiked at Catholic campuses across the country.Read more . . .

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Here's the rub, as I understand it: The military justice system isn't empowered to consider whether a president, duly elected, certified and inaugurated, is anything other than what the civilian leadership says he is.

What this means is that Lakin's beau geste may originate within the military order but it falls into the category of civil disobedience, breaking the law to uphold higher principle.

It is a higher principle no one else is upholding. Indeed, Lakin's disobedience highlights the existence of a vacuum of "true faith and allegiance" in the land -- a gross abdication of civilian responsibility to ensure the lawful transfer of presidential powers took place long before Lakin received orders to return to Afghanistan.

Indeed, through peaceful disobedience, Lakin has directed our attention to the moral corruption of our most trusted public servants who, rather than expose themselves to political inconvenience, permitted the secrecy of President Obama to fester in the first place.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin didn't rush onto a battleground this week; he walked into a military courtroom. He didn't fire a weapon; he pleaded guilty to disobeying orders related to deployment, and not guilty to the more serious charge of "missing movement." But Lakin put his life, in the sense of his distinguished 17-year career as an Army surgeon, his income, his pension, and his personal freedom, on the line because of his sworn duty to the U.S. Constitution.

The Palin White House Christmas will be especially fun. Gone will be the days of Michelle Obama trying to shame teenage girls into eating disorders. Bristol, Willow, and Piper will be in kitchen baking cookies and making a ginger bread house.

Angels will be allowed again on the White House Christmas trees (which will again be called Christmas Trees; not Holiday Trees) in place of the left over Chairman Mao balls from the disgraced Obama's.

Michelle Obama is now back in Chicago and once again not proud of her country.

My fellow citizens. As Americans we all know that the unequivocal worth of a happy family is something that has not changed in human civilization. A family of grandparents, parents and children, together with their extended family and friends, is the cornerstone of a prosperous America. When Todd and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary we were devout and appreciative of the closeness and foundation of our own family as they joined us for the celebration. Now, this Christmas celebration, of course, represents the birth of Jesus Christ. Amid many things, the Christmas story is a story of family; a family going through a difficult time. The Inn had no room for Mary and Joseph; they had to fend for themselves in a stable, and the infant baby Jesus had to be placed in a manger. This family had been excluded. It may be because of this ancient strife that, throughout his spiritual leadership and pastoral care, Jesus of Nazareth interacted and was sociable with people that others condemned, scorned, and even hated.

As we celebrate Christmas with our families let us remember the glory and greatness of the family. The family is a pillar and key element of our society. As a Christian Woman, as a Mother, and as your President; I would like to use this Christmas Eve 2014 to honor our nation's Judeo-Christian foundation and reunite a family this Christmas.

Barack Hussein Obama became the forty-fourth President of the United States on January 20, 2009.

Pursuant to resolutions of the House of Representatives, its Committee on the Judiciary conducted an inquiry and investigation on the impeachment of the President extending many months. The hearings of the Committee and its deliberations, which received wide national publicity over television, radio, and in printed media, resulted in votes adverse to Barack Hussein Obama on recommended Articles of Impeachment.

As a result of certain acts of treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors during the Office of President, Barack Hussein Obama has become liable to possible indictment and trial for offenses against the United States. Whether or not he shall be so prosecuted depends on findings of the appropriate grand jury and on the discretion of the authorized prosecutor. Should an indictment ensue, the accused shall then be entitled to a fair trial by an impartial jury, as guaranteed to every individual by the Constitution.

It is believed that a trial of Barack Hussein Obama, if it became necessary, could not fairly begin until a year or more has elapsed. In the meantime, the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost by the prospects of bringing to trial a former President of the United States. The prospects of such trial will cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States.

Now, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Loiuse Palin, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Barack Hussein Obama for all offenses against the United States which he, Barack Hussein Obama, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 2008 through January 20, 2013.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand and fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

Todd, Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, Trig, Trip and I wish all Americans a joyous Christmas, and a properous New Year.

God Bless you, and God Bless America.

AUTHORS NOTE: For reference and protocol The Presidential pardon sequence was inspired by President Gerald Ford.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Lately the boys in the beltway have been really scared of a Madame President Sarah Palin. They are scared because the election of Sarah Palin as President of the United States will render them and their beloved titles, positions, and political substructures irrelevant.

All of their theories, brand name education, and meaningless academic logic will be unnecessary in the fundamental restoration of America.

Citizen politicians are proving the hoity toityintellectuals are not needed. Common sense conservatism leads to a smaller smarter government. This is not just what America needs, this is what America wants, because this is what America is supposed to be.

A favorite narrative among the beltway boys is to complain that Sarah Palin needs to talk about policy. The truth is she does. All the time. All you have to do is look.

Anyone who has complaints about Sarah Palin's approach to policy is either ignorant, or they are purposefully ignoring it and lying in order to advance a false media narrative.

The sin of omission applies accross the board in the intentional mis-reporting on Sarah Palin.

I remember reading this in Chicago at the Conservatives4Palin meeting in the morning and almost being late to breakfast because I really wanted to take my time and study this.

The note is heavy. The note is long. It should be. Why? BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT POLICY! I encourage anyone who has not read it to do so. If you have already read it, read it again so you can be prepared to talk to people about Sarah Palin's policy ideas as we approach the 2012 primary season.

The People prefer a leader like Sarah Palin who believes in a prouder America. A stronger America. A better America.

We are tired of the schooled up experts telling us how to run our lives.

Americans are tired of a media and a President who would rather run down America than build her up.

The 2010 elections taught us many things. One of the best lessons we learned is that as citizens we must actively engage in the narrative about our candidates. We cannot allow the media to frame the narrative for our candidates any longer. Those candidates lost. We must fight back the lies immediately and consistently.

As the GOP establishment and the left combine forces to keep good candidates like Sarah Palin out of office it is up to us to stand up and speak out.

We must prepare ourselves for our right to fight to be heard. We will be heard.

Now is the time to stand up for our Values, our Voice, our Vote...our America.